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25 million California residents face ‘life-threatening’ fire warning – The Mercury News


By Karina Tsui | CNN

Powerful winds that fueled fast-moving wildfires across Southern California this week are expected to pick up momentum on Thursday –– worsening conditions for firefighters who are already battling limited visibility to save lives.

The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning until 6 p.m. Thursday – which is used to describe “extreme and life-threatening fire behavior.” The warning is expected to affect 25 million people in Southern California and the greater San Francisco Bay area.

RELATED: Map: Mountain Fire evacuations in Ventura County

Earlier this week, forecasters warned conditions appear concerningly similar to those responsible for “some of the worst fires in Southern California history.”

All schools in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, have been closed through Friday due to the fires.

Here’s the latest:

  • Ventura County’s Mountain Fire expanded in size on Wednesday after powerful Santa Ana winds came into contact with very dry air. The blaze is now moving at a “dangerous rate of spread,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a news conference Wednesday, burning agricultural fields and hedgerows in the area.
  • At least 800 firefighters and 58 fire engines have been deployed to contain the Mountain Fire on South Mountain. It has been unsafe for helicopters to operate, Fire Captain Trevor Johnson said in a news conference.
  • Footage obtained by CNN from the town of Camarillo Hills shows orange embers searing through trees and homes late Wednesday, with structures barely recognizable and many burned to the ground.
  • Officials haven’t determined the number of structures that have been damaged. In a statement announcing Federal Emergency Management Agency support for fire rescuers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom estimated roughly 3,500 homes, structures, and businesses have been affected by the Mountain Fire.
  • At least two people have been transported to the hospital with possible smoke inhalation, fire officials said.
  • As of Thursday morning, California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection estimated the Mountain Fire has burned at 14,148 acres with 0% containment. More than 14,000 people remain under evacuation orders, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

A scramble to evacuate

Kapoor added that fires are part of the “Los Angeles reality” and all professors could do was follow guidance from emergency officials and reassure students.

Two structures caught on fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, and there were no reported injuries.

According to the weather service office in Los Angeles, conditions at the time of the fire showed north-northwest wind gusts up to 51 mph and humidity at 11%.

Wildfires threat to power providers

Wildfires have scorched more than 1,015,138 acres throughout the state of California so far this year, compared to 332,822 acres by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.

The threat of fire starts is so severe that two of the state’s power providers cut off power to thousands of Californians to prevent electrical equipment from sparking flames.

Power equipment can start fires, particularly when conditions are as extreme as forecast through Thursday. PG&E had to pay $45 million in a settlement for its equipment’s role in starting the Dixie Fire – California’s second largest in history – in 2011.

More than 11,000 Southern California Edison customers across five counties had power shut off Wednesday morning. Nearly 250,000 customers could be impacted, according to the utility’s website.

Power shutoffs affected thousands of PG&E customers by Wednesday morning and will continue through Thursday, according to the utility’s website.

CNN’s Taylor Galgano, Taylor Romine, Emma Tucker, Robert Shackelford, Chris Boyette, and Mary Gilbert contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.



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